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US sees no currency manipulation, adds Switzerland to watch list

Sat, Oct 15, 2016 - 8:06 AM

The US Treasury said on Friday that none of the United States' major trading partners is manipulating its currency to gain advantage for its exports, a stark contrast to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's threats to declare China a currency manipulator if he is elected.

PHOTO: EPA

[WASHINGTON] The US Treasury said on Friday that none of the United States' major trading partners is manipulating its currency to gain advantage for its exports, a stark contrast to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's threats to declare China a currency manipulator if he is elected.

In its 16th and final currency report under President Barack Obama, the Treasury said it added Switzerland to a foreign exchange "monitoring list" of countries with high external surpluses or currency market interventions.

It also kept China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan on the list, first launched in April. But it said none of the six countries met the standard for enhanced scrutiny under a new trade enforcement law passed in 2015.

Treasury said that for the 12 months through June, it has "concluded that no major trading partner of the United States met the standard of manipulating the rate of exchange between its currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade".